Remember the days when your company gifted you a gold watch for your 15 years of service?

Probably not. The truth is that if you were born after 1984, you've never heard of the concept. At some point between then and ten years ago, simply providing you with employment, was considered a gift. But that has changed.

Companies have now started to gift employees. Not with fancy watches or plaques, but with experiences. In fact, you don’t even have to achieve anything to get them. It’s like a participation trophy of sorts. You simply have to work there to be treated to these experiences. It can be a cooking class, an escape the room or a fabulous immersive hands-on experience at Unarthodox.

Experiences last forever and make people happy. And there’s nothing better than happy colleagues. Unlike materialistic things where they only make you happy a first, experiences last much longer. Even if you have a bad experience, it will eventually turn out to be positive. For starters, you would have learned something from it. Additionally, any bad experience usually turns out to be a good story that you tell over time.

Many companies, especially in Tech, have embraced this theory and have recurrent outings with their teams to keep everyone refreshed and happy. They understand that millennials, particularly, choose to spend their money on experiences rather than things. Instead of spending money on a fancy car, they prefer spending it on a Guatemalan hiking adventure. Furthermore, possessions don’t contribute to employee interaction. Having experiences with others constitutes a tighter bond, making for a better, functional and productive team.

An amazing team celebrating their money well spent at Unarthodox’s Picture This Experience.

Improv Land Experience, one of the many experiences that we offer at Unarthodox. Our instructors will design interactive improv games specifically for your team that will start with fun, ice-breaker games and transition into storytelling and collaboration exercises.

“I need to find places for them to eat, drink, socialize and have a good time. Furthermore, we have people flying in from our international offices for this event. Not only do I have to plan all of the day’s meetings, but now I’m responsible for their good time as well….”

Sound familiar? There are so many thoughts that run through your mind when planning a company event, especially, if your reputation depends on it. Making sure everyone enjoys themselves, ensuring that the venue has a comfortable environment, making sure that your colleagues are entertained & engaged, and hoping that they have the opportunity to naturally bond, are only a few of many worries and concerns that every event planner has. And you’re not even an event planner! Roll up your sleeves and get to work, you have a long journey ahead of you...or do you?

You’re in New York City, baby! This can’t be that hard. Something new, fun, affordable, convenient, and memorable? Piece of cake. Let’s start with your in-house research team – Google. You type in “Fun things to do in New York City”...search! Seven hundred and eighteen million results. (It’s true, look it up).

Now you’re panicking again! Ok, let’s narrow it down to “fun team outing ideas NYC”. Only 10,200,000. Well, that’s a bit more manageable. Yeah right! After three hours of researching, you have narrowed it down to 10 potential places. How about the reviews? You have to make sure that the place is “good enough” for your team. Is it a reputable place? Is it clean? Is it presentable? Is it in a good part of town?

Once you determine that any particular place is “good enough”, you need to consider your budget – can we afford this? Oh yeah, you still have to take into consideration where to eat and drink. Back to your research team. Same list of questions and concerns apply.

Fortunately, there’s Unarthodox. Make one call, and all the above go away. You no longer need to plan anything because it has already been planned and proven to work. Located in a Landmarked Arts Building, in the heart of Chelsea, Unarthodox is a unique, sophisticated and more importantly, fun space for your team to explore their creativity and interact with one another.

Need something fun and unique? – Check! Need good food? – Check! Need wine and beer? – Check! Need the entire event to go smoothly? – Check, check & check! More importantly, you will walk away the hero. Check out unarthodox.com and get more information. Or simply call us, we would be happy to suggest the perfect event for your team.

You know, I've always questioned authority. Not the type that comes from laws and regulation, but the virtual type. The authority that is enforced by society and fueled by expectations, trends, responsibility, traditions, etc.

For instance, we are constantly judgedby our peers based on what we do for for a living. One of the first thing one asks when meeting someone new (especially in a professional environment) is, “So what do you do?” There are assumptions and expectations that are made instantly, simply by what your profession is. But who cares what you do, it doesn’t define you. At least for the most part.

I, on the other hand, ask, so what do you do…for fun? Immediately I get an “oh!…ok…umm…for fun?…umm”. My theory is that the topic of fun, really opens up the window to genuine conversation. What a person does for fun, tells me more about them than what they do for work. Eventually, the “work topic” comes up but doesn’t dominate the conversation.

Fun is to you keeping your mind sane as sleep is to repairing your body. If you don’t get the right amount of sleep, you don’t physiologically function properly. If you don’t get enough fun, you’ll go freaking crazy. And this is what I'm interested in…the fun factor.

Keeping the mind sane is like learning a language. You have to be immersed in it or practice it often, otherwise, you will never be good at it. It’s like the sharpen your saw theory. Sharpening the saw means preserving and enhancing the greatest asset you have–your mind. If you are constantly cutting down trees without sharpening your saw, your productivity level will eventually drop to zero. You work ten times as hard, to only achieve 10% productivity.

So this is why fun is the basis here at Unarthodox. Our mission is simply to provide a platform where groups and individual, can create, explore and experiment with their creativity, while socializing and simply having fun!

Virtual Reality Cardboard Theater

When was the last time you actually created something just to create?Not just art, but anything. A long time I would assume. When was the last time you experienced something completely different?

We are all born with the desire to express ourselves. And one of the few ways to truly express yourself, is being creative, making art, and enjoying it. Not just painting, sculpting and writing, but also performing, moving, and dancing.

Creative expression can benefit your brain and mental health to make you a happier, healthier person.

You don’t need stress management, you need fun management. The average person has 60,000 thoughts per day and 95% of them are exactly the same day in, day out! Get yourself out of that rut! As Pablo Picasso once said, “Art washes from the soul the dust of everyday life.”

Creating art increases the “feel good” neurotransmitter dopamine. Dopamine has been called the “motivation molecule.” It boosts drive, focus, and concentration.

Our focus at Unarthodox is to offer team building and team outing experiences with a fun, artistic or “Unarthodox” twist.

We don’t like to call it team building, we say Productive Fun! Telling your colleagues or employees that you’re all going to a team building activity instantly puts on pressure and expectations.

“Oh, I guess I’m going to have to pair up with Karen, ugh, I don’t want to pair up with Karen” This instantly creates pressures and assumptions on how something is going to go…stressful!

So at Unarthodox, we sort of…disguise this. It’s like telling kids that what they are about to eat, although delicious, has vegetables in it. Cue in the apprehension and skepticism.

We designed all of our experiences to appear like they are simply a good time but secretly hide, well…the vegetables. It not only tastes good, but it’s good for you too! Or, it’s not only fun, but productive. You get the comparison.

So forget the charts, deadlines, and responsibilities for a couple of hours and come sharpen your saw! I guarantee that you will have a blast!

Team bonding doesn’t have to be a snoozer. That’s actually the opposite of what Unarthodox has in mind for its guests. We are all about creating an immersive, engaging experience that gets every person in the room into their bodies and lifting each other up!

“A ground breaking team building exercise” as stated by the New York Post.

Forbes’ Brian Scudamore contributes, “Despite its reputation for being, well, lame, team building is the most important investment you can make for your people. It builds trust, mitigates conflict, encourages communication, and increases collaboration.Effective team building means more engaged employees, which is good for company culture and boosting the bottom line.”

Our experiences range from interpersonal and mindful to loud and interactive! From Sculpture Without Sight to Picture This, a game of Pictionary, Charades, and Wheel of Fortune rolled into one. These expose what your colleagues have been holding back and pull the new guy out of his shell!

Every experience creates a sense of bonding and togetherness that can be utilized in the office long after your boss’ planned outing. Remember, NYC has some of the most eccentric people and places to visit in the entire world. Why don’t you add this unique wonder to your bucket list?

I, the mysterious “I” representing Unarthodox, would like to take this opportunity to briefly introduce you to the creators of Unarthodox, Al Montagna and Maria Kordova! This dynamic-duo is the cream of the crop (and no, they didn’t prompt me to write this).

These two have built something special from the ground up, and that something is... Unarthodox! Unarthodox is a creative space in the heart of New York City, built with the same passion both Al and Maria themselves resonate. A place where every kind of person can come and feel a welcoming comfort and joy, where they can have fun and explore their creativity with no rules or regulations, just like Al and Maria do on a daily basis!

Their drive is insurmountable and their personalities undoubtedly burst through Unarthodox’s seams. The two of them illustrate the true authenticity of what it means to cherish life and the people who are in it. Both Al and Maria have countlessly mentioned that Unarthodox isn’t just a company, but is a space that both captures and creates life. It’s pretty friggin’ special!

So this November, I would like to dedicate to Unarthodox’s Inspirational Role Models!

Unarthodox specializes in creative corporate team events, private celebrations, as well as one-of-a-kind experiences for the general public. Each experience allows for participants to embrace their creative side in a fun and unprecedented way.